Thursday, May 3, 2012

Microsoft Fingers Chinese Firewall/IPS Vendor In Windows Exploit Leak

Microsoft today announced that it had rooted out the source of a leak from within its third-party security software firm partnership program that resulted in the weaponization of a bug in Windows -- raising questions about whether the Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP) could be vulnerable to other such breaches.

Chinese firewall and IPS vendor Hangzhou DPTech Technologies Co., Ltd., according to Microsoft, was the culprit behind a rapid-fire turnaround of a working exploit for the Windows Remote Desktop (RDP) flaw in mid-March, just after the bug was patched by Microsoft.

[...]

Microsoft today was mum on how it ultimately rooted out DPTech as the source of the leak, or on just what Hangzhou DPTech Technologies did. "During our investigation into the disclosure of confidential data shared with our Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP) partners, we determined that a member of the MAPP program, Hangzhou DPTech Technologies Co., Ltd., had breached our non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Microsoft takes breaches of our NDAs very seriously and has removed this partner from the MAPP Program," said Yunsun Wee, director or Microsoft Trustworthy Computing, in a statement.

HD Moore, chief security officer at Rapid7 and creator of Metasploit, says it couldn't have been simple to trace the leak to a specific company. "[It's] interesting and somewhat surprising that they found it at all," Moore says.

Meanwhile, the announcement by Microsoft appears to raise more questions than it answers. Concerns about a Chinese security vendor leaking Windows vulnerability details before the patch window had closed, and whether this was truly the first breach of the MAPP program, sent a chill through the industry.

"Yes, it is a little concerning that it was a Chinese firm that leaked the Microsoft information. That being said, what did Microsoft really expect was going to happen? The Chinese do not have a very good track record of adhering to NDA and other agreements," says Paul Henry, security and forensic analyst at Lumension. "It is important to recognize that the MAPP program is relatively new, so there will be bumps in the road as Microsoft works out the delicate balance between strategic sharing and safeguarding the distribution of sensitive information regarding its products."